title: The influence of childhood and adolescent environmental exposure to a westernized environment on the relation between body mass index and adiposity in young Asian American women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Asians who have a healthy body mass index (BMI) range have been observed to have higher levels of obesity and risk of cardiovascular disease than whites, which suggests that the relation between BMI and adiposity may be different for Asians.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The primary aim of this study was to investigate the influence of childhood and adolescent exposure to a westernized environment on the relation between BMI and percentage body fat in young Asian American women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Secondary data from 129 Asian women, aged 20-25 y, with variable lengths of residence in the United States and 327 white women of comparable ages who had participated in the Latina and Asian Bone Health Study (1999-2000) and the Berkeley Bone Health Study (1998-2000), respectively, were analyzed by using multiple linear regression with percentage body fat as the outcome variable and place of birth, ethnicity, length of US residency, and BMI as predictor variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Asians who lived in the United States <12 y showed the same relation between BMI and percentage body fat as did whites. In contrast, Asians who had lived in the United States ≥12 y had higher percentage body fat than did whites for BMIs (in kg/m(2)) <20.5 and lower percentage body fat for BMIs in the overweight and obese range.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that childhood environments may influence the relation between BMI and adiposity. Research is warranted on the role that childhood environments play in the accumulation and distribution of body fat and hence metabolic disease risk later in life.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Community Health Sciences and Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. maywang@ucla.edu
authors.forename: May C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Catherine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Crespi
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity / Q000208:ethnology*; D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D000328:Adult; D001210:Asia, Southeastern / Q000208:ethnology; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology; D005202:Asia, Eastern / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States; D019366:Western World; D055815:Young Adult